1. Technical Field
This invention relates to child seats and, more particularly, to a multi-passenger vehicle child seat assembly and associated method for permitting an adult passenger to comfortably sit with first and second infant passengers in a rear seat of an existing vehicle.
2. Prior Art
Anyone who has traveled in a back seat with two infants would attest, sitting wedged between two full size car seats can be both awkward and uncomfortable. According to legislation that was passed in the United States, children up to the age of 8 or the weight of 80 pounds must ride in a safety or booster seat in the while rear of an automobile. This has resulted in higher demand for vehicular safety seats capable of carrying two children.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,652 to Fair discloses a folding frame type tandem stroller which includes at least one side step and a side portion of the folding frame configured to provide a side access region to the rear seat. A canopy rod actuated locking assembly locks a stroller folding frame in an open position. A front seat tray is pivotable in two directions and a canopy rod assembly is retractable to facilitate a compact folded size of a stroller. Unfortunately, this prior art example offers no relief for parents who wish to transport their two infants or small children via automobile.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,183 to Weber discloses a child seat for vehicles, particularly for passenger cars, having a seat bucket which has a seat surface, a back support and two side parts which laterally bound this back support. For improving such a child seat such that new function areas are opened up for the child, guide rails are in each case arranged on the upper edge of the two lateral parts and, in each guide rail, a structural part projecting upwards on the side part is displaceably accommodated by way of a guiding foot. The two structural parts are constructed such that they are capable of forming support cheeks in a displacement position situated in the head area of the seat bucket, and the guiding feet can be locked at least in the displacement position situated in the head area and in a displacement position situated in the leg area, in which case the structural parts can be used in the latter displacement position for forming a table surface. Unfortunately, this prior art example offers no relief to a parent who wishes to sit comfortably in the rear seat of an automobile while their two infants or small children are also being transported in the rear seats of such an automobile because each infant or small child requires a separate child seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,285 to Dukatz discloses a twin shoulder belt adjustment mechanism for a child restraint system, including a plurality of vertically spaced apart and slightly vertically offset restraint slots for holding the belts in use. Respective adjustment slits extend laterally from the restraint slots, with a downwardly extending connector slit interconnecting and extending beyond the outer ends of the lateral adjustment slits, such that the twin belts may be moved there through to a higher or lower pair of restraint slots to accommodate a different size child. Unfortunately, this prior art example offers no relief to a parent who wishes for their two infants or small children to safely occupy a single seat while being transported by an automobile. Further, this prior art examples offers no relief to a parent who wishes to removably interlock the child safety seats so that such safety seats may be connected or disconnected.
Accordingly, the present invention is disclosed in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The multi-passenger vehicle child seat assembly satisfies such a need by providing an assembly that is convenient and easy to use, is durable yet lightweight in design, is versatile in its applications, and effectively allows consumers to comfortably sit with first and second infant passengers in a rear seat of an existing vehicle.